Whoooo Hoooooo!!!

AND...... WE'VE BEEN MATCHED!!!

What a crazy week this has been!! I flew out for training at Ames on Sunday knowing full well that we had two matching opportunities this week. The fist opportunity was on Monday. I sat in class all day waiting to hear the results. I didn't have a good feeling and I was right. We weed not selected.

Then Wednesday we had another matching opportunity. I awoke with a great feeling about the day, but as the day wore on I got more and more nervous until I had convinced myself it wasn't going to happen (my usual defense mechanism against brutal disappointment.) About 2 hours after our social worker was to have presented us, I got the email. All I saw was the subject line "Great News". I TORE out of my classroom at full speed sprint to call our social worker! I was beside myself I was so excited!!!

He said he had a great feeling about it when we weren't selected Monday about the matching on Wednesday. We had all felt the best match was going to probably be our Wednesday match as this kiddo just sounds so much like us! Enjoys the same things, similar personality, etc... He is 2 1/2 months-ish younger than Boo! We're getting virtual twins!! Our Social Worker, Rod, told me all about Ogre and I tried to take it all in but honestly, I was so excited it was hard to pay attention.

There are many more steps where something could derail this whole process, but it's hard to think of Ogre as anything but our son already! Then Rod gave me the news, Ogre would be at an adoption event on Friday and could we come so we could meet him? Holy CROW!? I'm in CA!! So then begins the crazy flurry of emails and phone calls to my travel coordinator, my boss, the air lines, the rental cars, the hotels, etc... Long story short, I'll arrive back in Houston in the early morning on Friday, so I am able to go and meet him. I'll then fly back out to Ames on Sun. to resume class. Ogre will not know yet that we have been selected when we meet him because there is another step that must happen before they tell him and get his hopes up.

So, now what, you may ask. Well, CPS will provide us with his full history to read. Once we read it and agree we are still interested, Ogre will be told about us. Then we move on to a formal meeting and slowly after a few of those he'll come for a trial night with us and eventually a trial placement. After that, it takes about 6 months until the adoption is final! We are so hopeful in this process that Ogre's file doesn't hold too many surprises and that we can handle what is in there. I have a feeling this will be the most difficult read of my life.

Boo is handling this with a maturity WAY beyond her years. She is excited and nervous (ha, yah, me too!) In fact, it was her careful questioning of our social worker before the matching day that may have helped win over Ogre's caseworkers! Abbie came up with so many terrific questions for Rod to ask that the caseworkers were really impressed!

So, tomorrow is the big day for us. We'll get to meet him for the first time! I am so nervous - what do I say, how do I act, how do we begin fostering that relationship when he isn't even aware of who we are?!?! We'll figure it our of course, and it all just adds to the excitement we feel. We are getting SO close!! Wish us luck tomorrow!!